


Family

by Sholio



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Community: bringthehappy, Family, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-17
Updated: 2010-08-17
Packaged: 2017-10-11 03:25:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/pseuds/Sholio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For "bringthehappy" on LJ - prompt: "Zuko & Toph, family". Post-series, mild spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family

The slate-tiled floor of Iroh's tea shop was cool and firm under Toph's bare feet. It informed her that Zuko's body language was tense and unhappy -- even more so than usual.

"I don't think I can do this, Uncle," he was saying as Toph skated lightly into earshot.

"Do what?"

"Everything. Being Fire Lord. I don't think I'm good at it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not, and I'm terrified I'm going to screw up horribly and start another war or something."

Iroh laughed softly. His body said _fond concern_. "I think you are doing fine. My brother set a rather low standard, after all. You can only improve on his reign."

Zuko's body tensed even more. _Anger,_ it said. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? That's the _problem_, Uncle. I come from a long line of bloodthirsty dictators. The only one who escaped that fate is you, and you abdicated the throne to run a tea shop."

"I do like tea ..."

"That isn't the point!"

"The point is that you're afraid you'll take after your family, right?" Toph said, sliding in to lean on his chair. She was getting a little taller, to her secret relief, but still had to stand on tiptoe to fold her arms over the chair's upright back.

"Here to mock my pain?" Zuko asked darkly.

Just for that, she punched him, though not _too_ hard. Iroh's body language said _stifled amusement,_ as loudly as Zuko was now radiating annoyance.

"No, I'm here to point out that I'm living proof you don't have to be anything like the people you're related to. And you don't have to like them, either. I mean, I love my family, but I really can't stand them, and they think I'm weird."

"Unless your family are fanatic megalomaniacs, I don't really think our situations compare."

"Youve never met my family, have you?" Toph said. "They stuffed me into a _dress_. I was supposed to speak only when spoken to, eat neatly, and pay polite attention to my earthbending tutor teaching me things that I learned from the badgermoles when I was four. And you'd know all of this if you'd paid any attention on our life-changing field trip which _wasn't._"

Zuko pushed his chair back, almost shoving her off her feet, and stood. "Look, if you want to compare crappy childhoods, I think that mine --"

Toph casually bent part of the floor over his feet and shins, freezing him in place.

"Hey!"

"Do put my floor back when you're done, if you wouldn't mind," Iroh said mildly.

"Sure will," Toph told him with a smile, and turned back to Zuko. "Listen, you can wallow if you want to -- you're pretty good at it -- but if you really think that family wins out in the end, why don't you stop worrying about the Fire Lords and look to your _other_ family for inspiration, okay?"

"My other ..." Zuko left off struggling against his bonds. "Wait a minute, how did you know about Roku? I haven't told anyone that!"

"Roku? What's that got to do with -- Never mind." Toph pinched the bridge of her nose; she wasn't a patient person to begin with, and trying to deal with Zuko in these moods always gave her a headache. She wasn't sure why she bothered, really. "I'm talking about _us,_ you total dink. Iroh, of course. Aang. Katara. Sokka. Me. Everybody. If family was _just_ the people you're born to, I would've been totally screwed a long time ago."

She bent the floor back neatly, with a quick gesture, and then punched Zuko again. Harder. Because he deserved it for making her say all of that out loud.

"Ow!" he said faintly, rubbing his arm.

"You're pretty good at giving advice yourself, you know," Iroh told her. She could hear the smile in his voice, and feel it all over his body. "You'll have me out of a job soon."

"Nah. I've never been able to make a decent cup of tea." And she slipped away, back into the courtyard, to the feeling of Iroh's _amusement pride love_ and Zuko's_ astonishment warmth embarrassment tingling-happy-all-over._


End file.
